Gujral: ’84 riots were organised
New Delhi, January 15
Former Prime Minister I.K. Gujral today told the Nanavati Commission that the 1984 anti-Sikh riots were an “organised” act and no efforts were made to arrest the culprits who were indulging in looting and burning the properties of Sikhs in the Capital.

Dalai Lama taken
illPatna, January 15
The Buddhist spiritual leader and international cult figure Dalai Lama was taken ill today. However, he has not been hospitalised and kept at the high security Maurya Hotel here.

Notifications for Assembly poll
todayNew Delhi, January 15
Notifications for next month’s Assembly poll in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Manipur will be issued tomorrow.
By-elections for six Lok Sabha and nine Assembly constituencies will also be held along with the Assembly polls.

The Army chief, General S. Padmanabhan (2nd from left), salutes after laying a ceremonial wreath on the 54th Army Day in New
Delhi on Monday. The annual event has been toned down this year due to the current situation in Kashmir.
— Reuters
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BSF all set for
R-Day paradeNew Delhi, January 15
The world’s single largest paramilitary force, BSF is all set to march in this year’s Republic Day celebrations.
Five contingents of the BSF are currently practising around the capital’s India Gate.

India to set up schools in
AfghanistanNew Delhi, January 15
India has decided to build six schools and polyclinics in six major cities of war-torn Afghanistan, India’s Special Envoy to Afghanistan, Mr S.K. Lambah, said here today.

MPs delegation to leave next weekNew Delhi, January 15Seven delegations of parliamentarians will shortly leave for different parts of the world to mobilise the international opinion in wake of the December 13 terrorist attack on Parliament.

Paris-based artist
robbed of paintingsNew Delhi, January 15A Paris-based Indian painter and film-maker was robbed of his 13 miniature paintings and a bag containing his passport, flight ticket, a digital camera, $ 500 and Rs 10,000 Indian currency, while he was attending a book release ceremony last night at the Taj hotel.

New Delhi, January 15
Former Prime Minister I.K. Gujral today told the Nanavati Commission that the 1984 anti-Sikh riots were an “organised” act and no efforts were made to arrest the culprits who were indulging in looting and burning the properties of Sikhs in the Capital.

“From what I had seen and heard, it appeared to me that the riots were organised, particularly so when many persons had participated in it and it (riot) spread throughout the city,” Mr Gujral, deposing as a witness told the commission, probing the riots after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

He said on November 1, when he was going to apprise the then Home Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao about the situation in the city, he could see “there was no effort to arrest those people who were looting and burning the properties of the Sikhs, nor anybody trying to control the riots”.

The former Prime Minister said he had met Mr Rao twice and during talk with him it appeared that the Home Minister did not know in details what was happening in the city as he was busy most of the times receiving the foreign dignitaries who were visiting Delhi to attend the funeral of Indira Gandhi.

Mr Rao himself had told me that the police was facing difficulty in controlling the crowd that had assembled around Teen Murti Bhavan, where Indira Gandhi’s body was kept for public to pay their tributes, Mr Gujral said.

He said when he had asked Delhi’s Lieut Governor P.G. Gawai to call the Army he had replied that “If Army was called, there would be panic”.

He told the Commission that a Sikh boy, who escaped from Faridabad to Delhi through sewage pipes to save his life during the 1984 riots, had reportedly spent three days in the drain.

Mr Gujral said he had witnessed the “half-dead” boy being pulled out from the drain in Maharani Bagh where he stayed then.

The boy was helped out of the drain by Mr Gujral’s son and his friends and later admitted to Holy Family Hospital by the former Prime Minister himself.

Mr Gujral told the commission that later he came to know that the boy had entered the sewage pipe to escape the fury of mob and remained in the drain for three days before he finally landed in Delhi.
PTI, UNI

Patna, January 15
The Buddhist spiritual leader and international cult figure Dalai Lama was taken ill today. However, he has not been hospitalised and kept at the high security Maurya Hotel here. Dr S.N. Mishra, Director, Indira Gandhi Heart Institute, told TNS that his blood pressure was quite low as he had continuous and quick motions. He said the spiritual leader showed no symptoms of heart disease and the blood pressure fall had been attributed to gastroenteritis.

The state police and district administration had sounded panic button earlier and wanted total check-up of the spiritual leader as Intelligence agencies had reported of a possible threat to him in India. However, officials attending on him have denied any untoward angle in his illness.

The Dalai Lama was scheduled to leave for Bodh Gaya to attend a Buddhist function but had been advised 24 hours’ bed rest, Patna District Magistrate Deepak Kumar said.

Dr Mishra said the Dalai Lama did not need to be hospitalised but the hospital staff had been put on alert. He said he had been kept on ‘khichchdi’ and life-saving fluids. No Electro-cardiogram (ECG) was conducted as his heart was in good condition, he added.

New Delhi, January 15
Notifications for next month’s Assembly poll in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Manipur will be issued tomorrow.

By-elections for six Lok Sabha and nine Assembly constituencies will also be held along with the Assembly polls.

Polling for the legislative Assembly in Punjab would be held on February 13 and 14.

Uttar Pradesh would have a three-day poll on February 14, 18 and 21, while Uttaranchal will have elections on February 13 and 14. Manipur will have two-day poll on February 14 and 21.

The last date for filing nominations will be January 23. Scrutiny will take place the next day and the last date for withdrawal of candidature is January 28.

Six Lok Sabha constituencies where by-elections will be held are Guna (Madhya Pradesh), Mirzapur (Uttar Pradesh) Kaliabor (Assam), Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir), Kanakapura (Karnataka) and Tripura West (Tripura).

The parliamentary constituency of Guna was till now represented by Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia, who died in a plane crash. Samajwadi Party member Phoolan Devi, who was gunned down at her New Delhi residence, represented Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh. The Kaliabor seat in Assam was vacated by Mr Tarun Gogoi after the Congress made him the Chief Minister of Assam.

The nine Assembly constituencies where by-elections will be held are Yamunanagar (Haryana), Arvi (Maharashtra), Ajmer West (Rajasthan), Andipatti, Saidapet and Vaniyamhri (all in Tamil Nadu), Sayajiganj, Mahuva and Rajkot-11 (Gujarat). Former Chief Minister and AIADMK leader J. Jayalalithaa is expected to contest from Andipatti.

The notification for by-elections in Tamil Nadu and Tripura would be issued on January 17 with January 25 being the last date for filing nominations.

New Delhi, January 15
The world’s single largest paramilitary force, BSF is all set to march in this year’s Republic Day celebrations.

Five contingents of the BSF are currently practising around the capital’s India Gate.

Leading the march will be the brass band matching their steps to the beats of ‘Vijay Bharat’. Subedar N.C. Nath will lead this band of 80 personnel. The BSF Marching Contingent led by Deputy Commandant will follow the band.

Camel mounted troops known as the Camel Contingent will be led by Assistant Commandant Shaitan Singh Bhati. The Camel Contingent takes pride in tracking down smugglers and extremists on the Rajasthan and Gujrat frontier.

The camel mounted band playing the tune ‘Hum hai Seema Suraksha Bal’ will follow next. Sub-Inspector Hassan Khan will lead this contingent.

At the end will be a show by the BSF Trick Riders, a band of 90 adventurous men on 19 motorcycles. It will be led by Subedar Swadesh Singh Chundawat.

New Delhi, January 15
India has decided to build six schools and polyclinics in six major cities of war-torn Afghanistan, India’s Special Envoy to Afghanistan, Mr S.K. Lambah, said here today.

Moreover, discussions were on to start an institute for imparting training in information technology (IT). The funds for all these were likely to met from the $ 100 million credit line proposed by India.

Speaking at a meeting on “Reconstruction of Afghanistan” organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here, Mr Lambah said the schools and polyclinics were likely to come up in Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, Jalalabad and Kunduz.

India was also considering the possibility of offering a line of credit from Exim Bank to facilitate investment by Indian corporations in the trouble-torn country.

“We are exploring the possibilities of Exim line of Credit and it is in the proposal stage,” he said although he did not disclose any further details on the amount.

Urging Indian corporations to look at Afghanistan as a very good investment opportunity, the Special Envoy said that there were opportunities in almost every sector.

Mumbai, January 15
The judicial remand of suspected Al-Qaida terrorist Mohammed Afroze Abdul Razzak was today extended till January 29 by a local court here.

Afroze was produced before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate V.P. Taware here this morning.

The Al-Qaida suspect was last produced on January 1 and his remand was extended till today.

Afroze was arrested on October 2 in a robbery case and later investigations and his subsequent ‘’confession’’ to Crime Branch investigators revealed that he was a member of Osama bin Kaden’s Al-Qaida terrorist network.

He was charged with conspiracy of waging a war against the country. Afroze also “confessed” of being part of a suicide squad to blow up British
Parliament. UNI

New Delhi, January 15
Seven delegations of parliamentarians will shortly leave for different parts of the world to mobilise the international opinion in wake of the December 13 terrorist attack on Parliament.

Giving details, a spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs today told reporters that the first delegation would leave “as early as next week” and the entire process would be over by the end of this month.

New Delhi, January 15
A Paris-based Indian painter and film-maker was robbed of his 13 miniature paintings and a bag containing his passport, flight ticket, a digital camera, $ 500 and Rs 10,000 Indian currency, while he was attending a book release ceremony last night at the Taj hotel.

Vishwanadhan, who was here to present his latest film ‘Calcutta Hands’ at the French Cultural Centre, could not return to Paris as he lost his passport and flight ticket.

The author lost his bag, when he was attending the release ceremony of ‘The House of Blue Mangoes’ held by Penguin Chief Executive David Davidar.

NATIONAL BRIEFS

SP STATE SECRETARY
JOINS RLD
DEHRA DUN: Mr Munna Singh Rana, state secretary of the Samajwadi Party, has resigned from his post and membership of the party to join the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). Addressing mediapersons at the RLD’s state office here on Monday, Mr Rana said he had left the SP due to its anti-state policies. “I am joining Lok Dal as it is a party committed to the welfare of the state, farmers, labourers and youth”, he said.
UNI

TRAINS TO HALT AT PATNA SAHIBPATNA: All mail and express trains barring Rajdhani and Shatabdi express will stop at Patna Saheb railway station here for a week from January 17 for five minutes to help Sikh pilgrims visit Takht Harmandirjee Saheb to offer prayers to Guru Gobind Singh, Eastern Railway (ER) sources said. Guru Gobind Singh was born in old Patna city. Instructions regarding stopping of the trains was sent to Danapur division by Railway Minister Nitish Kumar.
PTI

JAT LEADER COL CHOUDHARY DEAD
KOTA: The Akhil Bharatiya Jat Mahasabha national vice-president and social worker Col Jawahar Singh Choudhary died here on Monday, family sources said on Tuesday. He was about 66 years old. Colonel Choudhary had been in coma after he fell from a chair in his house on January 11.
UNI

TRIPURA BANDH HITS LIFE
AGARTALA: Normal life was paralysed as the dawn-to-dusk Tripura bandh, separately called by the ruling Left Front and the opposition Congress began on Tuesday morning in protest against the killing of 16 non-tribals by NLFT insurgents at Singicherra in west Tripura district. Shops and business establishments, government offices, banks, colleges and schools remained closed while vehicular traffic was off the road, the police said.
PTI